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Orion's Roof at Virginia Beach


Staying home for months and not traveling had provided us the opportunity to get creative in planning for a quick getaway to take advantage of what was left of the summer heat before cold autumn takes over. Because I haven't really gone to the area for non-work reasons, we decided to drive down to Virginia Beach. Driving from Northern Virginia to Virginia Beach takes around three hours or more, depending on the traffic. 

Our first stop when we arrived is Orion's Roof located on the 23rd floor of Marriott Resort Virginia Beach Oceanfront. The restaurant, headed by ex-Nobu chef Hisashi Araki, just opened last May and has been attracting sushi fanatics both visiting and living in the Virginia Beach area. 

We reserved for late dinner at least a week prior and we got seated at our table as soon as we arrived. While enjoying our bottle of wine, we had these starters: Edamame ($6), Local Oysters on the Half Shell ($14), Hamachi Carpaccio ($16), and Conch Ceviche ($14). 

Conch Ceviche
Local Oysters on the Half Shell
Hamachi Carpaccio

All of the three dishes above disappeared within seconds - everything was fresh and completely melted in our mouths. I really enjoyed the Hamachi Carpaccio the most and wouldn't share it if I didn't really have to. 

We also had Miso Yuzu Black Cod ($16) as our hot starter. Each piece of black cod is served on a piece of bibb lettuce. 

Miso Yuzu Black Cod

I was blown away by this delicious dish and that is an understatement. The black cod is pillowy soft and bursting with flavors of miso yuzu in each bite. This is one dish that you shouldn't miss trying when you visit this restaurant.

For our entree, we decided to stick with sushi so we ordered a Sushi Combination Party Platter ($29), which comes with six pieces of nigiri and six pieces of tekka tuna roll. We chose to try Unagi (Eel), Sake (Salmon), Hamachi (Yellowtail), Maguro (Ahi Tuna), Ika (Squid), and Shiromi (White Fish). 

Sushi Combination Party Platter

We enjoyed this sushi platter particularly the unagi, sake, and maguro. I wasn't particularly a fan of the tekka tuna roll but since it was included in the platter, we ate it anyway. We ordered a 3-Piece Combo ($15) so we both can try the Maguro and Sake Nigiri along with a piece of Tako (Octopus). 

3 Piece Combo

Just like the sushi party platter, we were just as happy with the 3 Piece Combo except for the part where the staff gave us the wrong orders twice. They were quite apologetic about it but I thought that it could be avoided if they only wrote down our orders. 

For dessert, we shared a Hot Chocolate Cake ($9) served with a scoop of vanilla gelato. 

Hot Chocolate Cake

I liked that the Hot Chocolate Cake was more like a lava cake than a regular chocolate cake, served with vanilla gelato with strawberry syrup. We both enjoyed the dessert but it wasn't anything groundbreaking. 

Overall, we had an amazing dining experience at Orion's Roof. Aside from the issue of not getting our nigiri order correctly twice in a row, the service was otherwise excellent. The dishes we had are impressive, especially the Hamachi Carpaccio and Miso Yuzu Black Cod. 

I'd love to return should we drive to Virginia Beach again and hopefully have a much better experience then.

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Orion's Roof
4201 Atlantic Avenue
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23451










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